1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to data processing in general, and in particular to electronic calendar applications that are capable of scheduling meetings. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a method for resolving meeting conflicts within an electronic calendar application.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Today many people are relying on electronic calendar applications in data processing systems to schedule meetings. An electronic calendar application allows a person to coordinate individual daily schedules and to schedule meetings among other people also having their own individual electronic calendar applications. In order to schedule a meeting, a user may input desired meeting information such as a requester and any attendee with whom the requester wishes to meet. The user may also input one or more proposed dates, times and durations for the intended meeting. The electronic calendar application then accesses the electronic calendars of the requester and all the potential attendees, and determines whether or not they will be available to attend the intended meeting on the proposed dates, times and durations.
If a common proposed date, time and duration have been found for all potential attendees, the electronic calendar application of each potential attendee then places the meeting schedule on the potential attendee""s individual electronic calendar. However, if any one of the potential attendee""s electronic calendars shows that the potential attendee is unavailable because of a conflicting event on the potential attendee""s electronic calendar at the proposed date, time and duration, then the electronic calendar application advises the user that the proposed meeting cannot, at that instant, be scheduled as requested.
Some electronic calendar applications, such as Lotus(trademark) notes, allow any potential attendee to accept (or reject) the meeting invitation so that the user will know whether or not the potential attendees are planning to attend the meeting. However, there are often situations that prevent a potential attendee from attending a meeting that the potential attendee has previously accepted. One such situation is when another xe2x80x9cmore importantxe2x80x9d meeting suddenly comes up and the time of the xe2x80x9cmore importantxe2x80x9d meeting happens to coincide with the proposed meeting. When such situation arises, with the current electronic calendar applications, the user must rely on the potential attendee to be courteous enough to inform him/her of the renege of the previous acceptance of the proposed meeting. However, such courtesy is often not extended by some potential attendees. Consequently, it would be desirable to provide an improved method for resolving meeting conflicts within an electronic calendar application.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, after receiving a request for setting a first meeting schedule for a first meeting, an electronic calendar application sets a first meeting schedule and a first meeting priority number associated with the first meeting. In response to a request to set a second meeting schedule for a second meeting, and the second meeting schedule conflicts with the first meeting schedule, the electronic calendar application determines whether a second meeting priority number associated with the second meeting is higher than the first meeting priority number associated with the first meeting. If the second meeting priority number is determined to be higher than the first meeting priority number, then the electronic calendar application overrides the first meeting schedule with the second meeting schedule. Next, the electronic calendar application informs a meeting scheduler of that first meeting that the first meeting has been overridden by the second meeting schedule.
All objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed written description.